Biz journalists increasingly using social media

Social media is the most increasingly influential source of information on stories published by business journalists, according to a study released Monday by Brunswick Research.

However, social media does not influence business journalists at the same level as their own research of more traditional information sources, the study found.

Brunswick Research, which is based on London, surveyed more than 1,000 business journalists in 35 countries, including 248 in North America. About half of the responses came from editors.

The study found that journalists based in North America are more likely to use and believe in the importance of social media than those elsewhere. Twitter provides the most valuable sources of information, but blogs are most likely to be the foundation of a published article.

Nearly half of the respondents said they had written a story based on information from a blog, compared to 33 percent who said they had written a story based on a microblog such as Twitter. Twenty-five percent said that they had written a story based in information from a social networking site.

Overall, about one in every seven stories written by business journalists originate from social media sources.

If you’d like a copy of the study, e-mail me at croush@email.unc.edu.